113: Mingcheng borrows money to pester Zhuli; the three men cause trouble and are then separated again.

At noon, as Zhu Li stepped out of the accounting firm, she was blocked by a familiar figure. Su Mingcheng, wearing a faded jacket, with messy hair, clutched a crumpled IOU in his hand, staring intently at her: “Zhu Li, you’re finally out! I’ve been looking for you for days!”

Zhu Li’s heart tightened, and she instinctively took two steps back: “Su Mingcheng, we’re divorced. Do you need something from me?”

“Yes!” Su Mingcheng stepped forward, pushing the IOU towards her. “I need some money for job hunting. Lend me fifty thousand yuan, and I’ll pay you back when I find a job! We were husband and wife; you can’t just watch me be at my wit’s end, can you?”

The IOU was scrawled with “I owe Zhu Li fifty thousand yuan,” without even a repayment date. Zhu Li’s face turned pale with anger, and she pushed the IOU away: “I don’t have money! And we’re divorced, I have no obligation to lend you money!”

“How can you not have money?” Su Mingcheng persisted, reaching out to grab her bag. “Didn’t you just get a bonus last month? And didn’t your parents give you money? You just don’t want to help me!”

Zhu Li was forced back to the roadside, and passersby looked over curiously. Anxious and flustered, she pulled out her mobile phone to call Xie Hui, but Su Mingcheng snatched it away: “Don’t you dare call anyone! If you don’t lend me money today, I won’t let you leave!”

Just then, a black car suddenly stopped nearby. Xie Hui pushed open the door and quickly walked over, grabbing Su Mingcheng’s wrist. With a slight twist, Su Mingcheng cried out in pain, and his mobile phone fell to the ground with a “thump.”

“Su Mingcheng, you dare to harass Zhu Li again?” Xie Hui’s voice was as cold as ice. He had just come from Company Name and was planning to pick up Zhu Li for dinner, but he unexpectedly witnessed this scene. “I warned you last time, if you touch her again, I’ll break one of your hands. Did you forget?”

Su Mingcheng’s forehead was covered in cold sweat from the pain, but he still talked tough: “I… I’m borrowing money from Zhu Li. What does that have to do with you? Mind your own business!”

“Nothing to do with me?” Xie Hui released his wrist, bent down to pick up Zhu Li’s mobile phone, and handed it to her. Then, he pulled out a stack of documents from his inner universe. “You need money for job hunting? How come I heard you’ve been going to the casino every day recently, losing over thirty thousand yuan? And this,” he flung a bank statement in front of Su Mingcheng, “last week you also took five thousand yuan from your dad and spent it all on alcohol. Where’s the money for job hunting?”

The words “casino expenses” and “alcohol expenditure” on the statement were particularly glaring. Su Mingcheng’s face instantly turned white. He tried to grab the statement but was blocked by Xie Hui: “You still dare to lie? Zhu Li, look at his true colors. He’s not looking for a job at all; he wants to trick you out of your money to squander!”

Zhu Li looked at the statement, trembling with anger—she never expected Su Mingcheng to be such a good-for-nothing even after the divorce, still trying to trick her out of her money to gamble. She took her mobile phone and opened the emergency call interface: “Su Mingcheng, if you don’t leave now, I’ll call the police!”

Su Mingcheng looked at the emergency call interface and then at Xie Hui’s stern gaze, knowing that continuing to make a scene would not end well. He could only glare fiercely at Zhu Li: “You just wait! I won’t let this go!” With that, he turned and quickly walked away.

Zhu Li watched his retreating figure, relieved. She grabbed Xie Hui’s arm, her voice still trembling slightly: “Thank you, Mr. Xie, you always help me… I really don’t know what I would do.”

“Why be polite with me?” Xie Hui pulled out a bottle of warm soy milk from his inner universe and handed it to her. “You must be hungry after work; have something warm first. By the way, I booked that Japanese restaurant you like. Let’s go now, and I can tell you how to guard against him in the future.”

Zhu Li took the soy milk, the warm sensation spreading from her fingertips to her heart, her eyes a little red—ever since she met Xie Hui, she no longer had to face Su Mingcheng’s harassment alone. This feeling of being protected was something she never experienced when she was with Su Mingcheng.

As the two walked to the car, Xie Hui’s mobile phone rang. It was Su Mingyu, her tone full of helplessness: “Mr. Xie, my dad is making a scene downstairs at Company Name, saying I won’t give you a raise and that you should ask me for it. He also said if you don’t get a raise, he won’t live with me in his old age. What should I do?”

“I’m coming over now. Don’t argue with him; wait for me.” Xie Hui hung up the phone and said to Zhu Li, “I’ll take you to the Japanese restaurant first, then go to Mingyu. Su Daqiang is acting up again.”

“I’ll go with you!” Zhu Li immediately said, “Su Daqiang is too much, using you as an excuse to cause trouble. I’ll go help Mingyu speak up.”

Xie Hui nodded, drove Zhu Li to the Japanese restaurant first, and then rushed to Company Name. On the way, he pulled out a small porcelain bottle from his inner universe, which contained a nine flower jade dew pill: “Take this. You were just startled; one pill can calm your nerves. I’ll come back to eat with you after I deal with Mingyu’s matter.”

Zhu Li took the porcelain bottle, her heart warm: “Go ahead, I’ll wait for you.”

Downstairs at Company Name, they indeed saw Su Daqiang sitting on the steps next to the main entrance, holding a sign that read “Give Mr. Xie a raise.” When he saw Su Mingyu come out, he stood up and blocked her: “Mingyu, you must give Mr. Xie a raise today! He’s helped you so much, and you don’t even raise his salary, that’s too heartless! If you don’t, I’ll disown you!”

“Dad, Mr. Xie is an investor in Company Name, not an employee. How can he get a raise?” Su Mingyu was both angry and helpless. “Don’t make a scene here; it’s a bad influence!”

“I don’t care!” Su Daqiang sat on the ground. “If you don’t give him a raise, I won’t leave! Mr. Xie helps you so much, you have to be worthy of him!”

The surrounding employees gathered to watch the commotion, and Su Mingyu’s face was almost completely red. Just then, Xie Hui quickly walked over, holding a voice recorder: “Mr. Su, you say I help Mingyu because I want a raise? Then what about what you told Auntie Zhang yesterday, ‘deliberately using Mr. Xie as an excuse to make Mingyu buy me a new refrigerator’? And you just asked me for two thousand yuan last week to buy health products, so why are you making a scene again now?”

Xie Hui pressed the voice recorder, and Su Daqiang’s voice clearly came through: “I’ll just say Mr. Xie wants a raise, and Mingyu will definitely compromise. Then I can get a new refrigerator…”

Once the recording played, the surrounding employees laughed: “So he wanted to trick her into buying a refrigerator! He’s so good at acting up!” “Director Su has it so tough!”

Su Daqiang’s face turned purplish-red. He quickly scrambled up from the ground, hiding the sign behind him: “I… I just said it casually, I didn’t mean it!”

“Said it casually?” Xie Hui pulled out a shopping receipt from his inner universe. “You already went to the appliance store yesterday and picked out a refrigerator, model BCD-500W, price five thousand eight, and you even told the salesperson, ‘My daughter will buy it for me.’ Was that also said casually?”

The date and model on the receipt were clear. Su Daqiang had nothing more to say. He grabbed the sign and ran: “I… I won’t make a scene again!”

Watching Su Daqiang’s retreating figure, Su Mingyu breathed a sigh of relief and said to Xie Hui: “Thank you, Mr. Xie. If it weren’t for you, I would have been entangled with him for a long time today. Oh, by the way, General Manager Meng just asked about you, saying he wants to discuss the follow-up plan for the new energy project. Do you have time?”

“Of course, I have time.” Xie Hui smiled. “I’ll go up with you to talk to General Manager Meng first, and then I’ll go have dinner with Zhu Li. Don’t let her wait too long.”

As the two walked into the Company Name building, Xie Hui’s mobile phone rang again. It was Sister Wu, her voice anxious: “Mr. Xie, Su Mingzhe just called me and said Xiao Mi’s child support will be reduced to one thousand, and that his rent in the US has increased, so he can’t afford three thousand anymore. What should I do? Xiao Mi’s extracurricular class fees are due next week!”

“Don’t panic, Sister Wu.” Xie Hui’s voice became calm. “I just had a friend check Su Mingzhe’s US bank statement. He still has over twenty thousand US dollars in his account; he can absolutely afford it, he’s just trying to renege. I’ll take you to him now and make him give you the three thousand child support today.”

After hanging up, Xie Hui said to Su Mingyu: “I’ll take you up to see General Manager Meng first, then pick up Sister Wu to get child support from Su Mingzhe. It’s a bit busy today. After I’m done, we’ll all have dinner together tonight, Zhu Li will be there too.”

“Okay, you go ahead, don’t delay.” Su Mingyu nodded, looking at Xie Hui’s retreating figure, her heart filled with gratitude—ever since Xie Hui appeared, whether it was Su Daqiang’s antics or Su Mingzhe and Su Mingcheng’s schemes, they could all be easily resolved. He was like a calming presence, making her no longer panic.

Xie Hui drove to pick up Wu Fei. On the way, Wu Fei held Xiao Mi, her eyes red: “Su Mingzhe is too much. Xiao Mi is his daughter, and he even wants to reduce her child support. How can he be so selfish?”

“Don’t be angry. With me here, he can’t reduce it.” Xie Hui pulled out a glowing small windmill from his inner universe and handed it to Xiao Mi. “Xiao Mi, be good. Uncle will help Mommy get the money back later and take you to buy ice cream.”

Xiao Mi took the windmill and smiled happily: “Thank you, Uncle! Daddy is bad, he doesn’t give Xiao Mi money.”

Downstairs at Su Mingzhe’s rented apartment building, Xie Hui went up with Wu Fei and Xiao Mi. After knocking for a long time, Su Mingzhe reluctantly opened the door. Seeing them, his face instantly darkened: “Why are you here? I said the child support is reduced to one thousand. Don’t you understand?”

“No, we don’t!” Wu Fei shielded Xiao Mi behind her. “Xiao Mi’s extracurricular class fees are due next week; not a single cent of the three thousand child support can be less! You have over twenty thousand US dollars in your American account; you can absolutely afford it, you’re just trying to renege!”

“That money is for emergencies!” Su Mingzhe tried to close the door, but Xie Hui blocked it and pulled out Su Mingzhe’s bank statement from his inner universe. “Emergencies? You bought a watch online for over a thousand US dollars yesterday. Why didn’t you say that was for emergencies? Today, you must give Sister Wu the three thousand child support, otherwise, we’ll go to court to apply for compulsory enforcement. By then, not only will you have to pay, but you’ll also be put on the list of dishonest debtors, and you’ll lose your job in the US!”

The words “watch purchase 1200 US dollars” on the statement were particularly glaring. Su Mingzhe’s face instantly turned white. He looked at Wu Fei’s determined gaze and then at the statement in Xie Hui’s hand, knowing that further resistance was useless. He reluctantly took out his mobile phone to transfer the money: “I’ll give it! Is that enough?”

Seeing the transfer notification on her mobile phone, Wu Fei breathed a sigh of relief and said to Xie Hui: “Thank you, Mr. Xie. If it weren’t for you, I really don’t know when I would have gotten the money.”

“You’re welcome.” Xie Hui patted Xiao Mi’s head. “Come on, Uncle will take you to buy ice cream, and then we’ll go find Auntie Zhu Li and Auntie Mingyu for dinner.”

In the evening, Xie Hui booked a cozy private restaurant, and Su Mingyu, Zhu Li, and Wu Fei with Xiao Mi all arrived. As soon as Xiao Mi saw Xie Hui, she rushed over and hugged his leg: “Uncle! You helped Mommy get the money back! I want to sit with you today!”

Xie Hui bent down and picked up Xiao Mi, smiling: “Okay, our Xiao Mi is the best.”

At the dinner table, Su Mingyu picked up a piece of braised pork for Xie Hui: “Thank you for helping me and Sister Wu today. Eat more of this meat to replenish your energy.”

Zhu Li served Xie Hui a bowl of soup: “This soup replenishes Qi and blood. You’ve been running around all day; you must be tired.”

Wu Fei looked at the scene before her and smiled: “Xiao Mi told me today that she wants Uncle to visit our home often in the future, saying Uncle is better than Daddy and will protect Mommy and her.”

Xie Hui looked at the gentle eyes of the three women, his heart filled with satisfaction—the antics of the su family men were once again thoroughly thwarted, not once succeeding. He raised his glass: “Come, let’s toast! May we never be bothered by the unpleasant affairs of the Su Family again, and may our lives get better and better!”

“Cheers!” Four glasses clinked together, and Xiao Mi also raised her juice cup, childishly shouting along: “Cheers! To a good life with Uncle, Mommy, and Aunties!”

The warm yellow light spilled onto the dining table, and laughter echoed in the private room. After dinner, Xie Hui drove them home separately. When he dropped Su Mingyu off downstairs, she took out a handmade key pouch from her bag, embroidered with a small “Xie” character: “Mr. Xie, this is for you. You don’t have a place for your car keys; this will be perfect.”

Xie Hui took the key pouch; the fabric was soft, showing her thoughtfulness: “I like it very much, thank you.”

Su Mingyu’s face instantly turned red, and she quickly walked into the apartment building, turning back after a few steps to wave at Xie Hui. Xie Hui looked at her retreating figure, then remembered Zhu Li’s reddened earlobes when she thanked him, and Wu Fei’s trusting gaze. He knew in his heart—these three women, hurt by the Su Family, had slowly come to regard him as their most solid reliance, and he would always protect them, never letting them suffer any grievances again.

On the way home, Xie Hui touched the inner universe on his chest—it contained today’s voice recorder, bank statements, receipts, and small gifts from The female protagonists. Each item bore witness to his protection. He knew that the su family men would certainly not give up, but as long as he was there, no one could bully these three women who deserved to be treated well. As night deepened, the car drove steadily under the streetlights, and Xie Hui’s lips always held a smile—the satisfying journey in the all is well world continued. He was already looking forward to the next time he would make the su family men lose face, and even more, to seeing The female protagonists completely break free from the shadows and bloom with the most brilliant smiles.